Delayed or cancelled flight inside China: what the published rules actually promise

The short answer

For a flight inside mainland China you are owed information, a decision about meals and lodging, a refund or change under the carrier's own conditions, and a written certificate if you ask for one. You are not owed a fixed cash amount by regulation: the flight-normality rule requires each domestic carrier to state in its own published general conditions whether it compensates delay, and on what terms. [1]

The rule also draws the line that decides who pays: if the delay or cancellation at the origin is caused by the carrier's own reasons, the carrier provides meals or lodging; if it is weather, air traffic control, security, an emergency or the passenger, the carrier only assists and the passenger pays. [1] This is desk research checked on 24 September 2026 against official texts, not a claim about any specific flight. The primary text is published in the State Council gazette at gov.cn, with the regulator's own explanation of the passenger-service rule at caac.gov.cn.

1. What counts as a delay, and what the carrier must tell you

The regulation defines its own terms: a flight delay is arrival more than 15 minutes later than schedule, a departure delay is leaving more than 15 minutes later than schedule, and a cancellation is a flight plan stopped because a delay was expected or happened. [1] One carrier's published English conditions repeat the same 15-minute thresholds, which is how a carrier is supposed to reflect the rule in its own documents. [5]

On information, the rule is specific. Once a carrier knows the status has changed, it must publish the delay or cancellation, including the reason and the current flight status, within 30 minutes through public information platforms, its website, call centre, SMS, phone or broadcast announcements. [1] If you are already sitting in the aircraft, the carrier must announce the reason and the estimated delay every 30 minutes, and after two hours onboard it must provide drinking water and food while keeping the lavatories working. [1] If you doubt the truth of what was announced, the rule itself says you may confirm with the civil aviation authority after the trip.

2. Who pays for meals and a hotel

Article 29 splits the cases, and the split is about cause, not about how long you waited. [1]

Carrier's own reasons — maintenance, crew, flight scheduling — delay or cancel at the origin: the carrier provides meals or lodging.

Non-carrier reasons — weather, an emergency, air traffic control, security, passengers — delay or cancel at the origin: the carrier assists you in arranging meals and lodging, and you pay.

Any cause on a domestic flight at a stopover, and any cause after a diversion: the carrier provides meals or lodging to the affected passengers.

Special assistance is required to be prioritised for disabled passengers, older people, pregnant passengers and unaccompanied minors when a delay or cancellation happens. [1]

3. Refunds, changes, and the certificate you should ask for

When a departure is delayed or cancelled, the carrier must handle refunds and changes properly under its general conditions and the ticket's use conditions, and if you ask for a written certificate of the delay or cancellation, the carrier must provide it promptly. [1] That certificate is the cheapest evidence you can create on the day: keep it together with your boarding pass, the delay notifications and any receipts you pay yourself.

The regulator's own consumer guidance puts the practical order plainly: for ticket changes contact your original sales channel first; if you are unhappy with how a delay or cancellation was handled, contact the carrier or the departure airport directly; and disputes with a carrier, an airport or an online travel platform can be reported to the 12326 civil aviation service-quality line. [3]

4. Cash compensation: what is not promised

Article 17 of the rule requires carriers to publish their general conditions, to define the services after a delay or cancellation, and to tell you about them when you buy the ticket. For domestic carriers, the general conditions must include whether compensation for delay is given and, if so, its conditions, standards and method. [1] The rule therefore hands the number to the carrier rather than setting one. What carriers publish varies: the Hainan Airlines page we retrieved sets out its definitions and its change and refund handling for irregular domestic flights, and separately publishes a cash standard for denied boarding caused by overbooking, which is a different event from a delay. [5]

The amounts many travellers quote come from the European Union, and they do not transfer. Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 applies to passengers departing from an airport located in the territory of a Member State, and to passengers flying from a third country to an EU airport when the operating carrier is a Community carrier. [4] A flight from Chengdu to Xi'an departs from and lands in mainland China and falls outside that scope entirely, so no EU table of fixed amounts can be used to price your claim.

5. What to do while the disruption is still happening

Ask for the reason in a form you can keep: the rule requires the reason to be published, and a screenshot of the carrier's own notification is the record you will need later. [1] Ask which cause the carrier is recording, because Article 29 turns on that answer. [1] Request the written certificate before you leave the airport. [1] Then use the published channels in order: carrier or departure airport first, then the 12326 line for an unresolved dispute. [3] Public threads show why this matters — travellers report a cancelled Shenzhen Airlines flight rebooked the next day with no explanation, and a domestic itinerary repeatedly cancelled with no communication from the airline. Those threads are evidence of the problem, not of your entitlement.

What this guide does not establish

We did not take a delayed flight, we did not file a claim and we did not test the 12326 line. This page does not publish a compensation figure for a domestic delay, because the regulation we read does not contain one; it does not tell you which cause will be recorded for your flight; it does not state how long a complaint takes to resolve, since we did not verify the regulator's processing periods; and it does not address international itineraries, code-share bookings or claims under another country's law. Where a carrier's own page and the regulation differ, the regulation controls the duty and the carrier's page controls the carrier's promise. For the Chinese edition of this page, see the Chinese edition.